Covington & Burling and Proskauer Rose, two firms that boast two of the most prominent sports law practices in the country, have landed lead advisory roles on the transaction, which comes about a year and a half after the NBA took control of the Hornets from former owner George Shinn.

Since then the league has been searching for a wealthy patron to take the Hornets off its hands, while promising to keep the team in New Orleans. The NBA appears to have finally found that individual in Benson, a San Antonio native whose ownership of the Saints has turned a once-moribund franchise into one of the NFL’s most profitable. (The Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010 but the league has suspended several coaches and revoked draft picks from the team as part of its Bountygate inquiry.)

Covington corporate partner Bruce Wilson and special counsel Scott Roades—promoted from associate on April 1—are leading a team from the firm advising Benson that also includes television contracts partner Peter Zern, tax partners Jeremy Spector and Robert Heller, employee benefits partner Michael Francese, and finance partner Michael Cutler.

"I am very grateful to Bruce Wilson and the Covington team," Benson said in a statement. "Their advice and counsel were key to getting this deal done."

Noting Covington’s relationship with the NFL—former commissioner Paul Tagliabue is senior of counsel at Covington—Wilson declined to comment on whether the firm spoke with Benson about the Bountygate probe.

NBA commissioner David Stern became the youngest lawyer in Proskauer’s history (at the time) to make partner at the firm at 32 during the early 1970s. Stern left Proskauer in 1978 to become the NBA’s general counsel, moving into the commissioner’s chair six years later. Another former Proskauer partner, NBA executive counsel for business and finance Harvey Benjamin, took the lead in-house for the league on the Hornets negotiations.

In exchange, the agreement contains no escape clause that would allow the Hornets to flee the Crescent City for other cities seeking NBA teams, such as Anaheim, Kansas City, San Antonio, and Seattle.

Covington's Wilson says that Benson's credentials and commitment to keeping the Hornets in New Orleans speak for themselves. On Friday, Sperling and Hornets president Hugh Weber issued a leader to Hornets fans thanking them for their support while the team searched for a new owner.